Regenerative brake system for vehicles.



R. E. BRUNDBGE;

REGENERATIVE BRAKE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 13110.9, 1911.

1,030,051 Patented June 18, 1912.

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REGBNERATIVE BRAKE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES.

APPLIGATION FILED 1150. 9, 1911.

1,030,051 Patented June 18, 1912.

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R. B. BRUNDEGE. REGENEEATIVE BRAKE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES.

I u A PLIOATION FILED DEC 9 1911 Patented June 18,

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COLUMBIA PLANOGBAFH COqWASNlNE-ITON. D. C.

FTC.

ROZIER E. BRUNDEGE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

REGENERATIVE BRAKE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1912.

Application filed December 9, 1911. Serial No. 664,814. r

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RozmR E. BRUNDEGE, acitizen of the United States, and residing at St. Louis, in the State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRegenerative Brake Systems for Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to regenerative brake systems for vehicles andmore particularly to road vehicles such as wagons, buggies and motordriven vehicles.

lVhere vehicles are used in localities where grades are encountered itis necessary to use a brake. This however results in unnecessary wasteof energy, since the brake energy is dissipated in heat and thereforelost. In such localities it is also desirable to have a reserve energysupply to start or help out in places where the grade is steep.

One of the objects of this invention therefore is to construct a brakesystem in which the braking energy can be stored as me chanical energyto be subsequently utilized in driving the vehicle.

Another object is to construct such mechanism which will be under thecontrol of the driver at all times, and to provide novel controllingmechanism.

Another object is to construct the mechanism so that it can be appliedto vehicles of any suitable type, and even to existing vehicles withoutrequiring the reconstruction or tearing down of such vehicles.

Further objects will appear from the detail description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 1s a plan view showing the mechanism applied to a vehicle, Fig.2 is a section on the line 22 Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33Fig. 1, Fig. 4: is a detail showing an end view of one of the ratchetsand its pawl for preventing unwinding of the spring, Fig. 5 is a similarview showing another ratchet, Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are details of themechanism shown in Fig. .2, Fig. 9 is a vertical section showing thecontrolling mechanism, Figs. 10 and 11 are details of the controllingmechanism, and Fig. 12 is a sect-ion on the line 12l2 Fig. 1, showingone of the supporting bracket The invention is shown as applied to anordinary wagon having an axle 15, wheels 16, and a reach or couplingpole 17. The wagon box is shown at 18 Fig. 9.

A series of brackets 19, 20, 21 and 22 are arranged to be mounted on theaxle and clamped thereto by means of straps 23 as shown in Figs. 1 and12. ,These brackets are provided at their ends with bearings. Gears 24and 25 are arranged to be bolted on the hubs of the wheels, and thesegears mesh with gears 26 and 27 loosely mounted upon shafts 28 and 29,which shafts are supported in the bearings on the brackets. The gears 26and 27 are arranged to be clutched to the shafts 28 and 29 by means ofclutches 30 and 31. These clutches may be of any suitable type, butpreferably are friction clutches of the expanding type, since howeverthese clutches are of well known construction it is not necessary todescribe them in detatil.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 3 and 5, 32 des ignates a casing or bracketwhich is bolted to the reach and provided with a number of bearings. Theshafts 28 and 29 extend into this casing and have mounted upon theirends and within the casing bevel pin ions 33 which are arranged to meshwith a bevel gear 34 loosely mounted upon a shaft 35. A heavy spiralspring 36 is mounted within the casing and is connected at one end withthe shaft and at its other end with a pin 37 on the gear 34. The casing32 is closed by a removable cover plate a bolted thereto. The shaft 28has rigidly secured thereto a ratchet 38 engaged by a pawl 39 pivotallymounted upon the casing 32 The bracket 21 has pivotally mounted thereonat 40 a three-armed lever, one arm 41 of which is connected by a link 42with the shiftable member of the clutch 30. An other arm 43 hasconnected thereto a link 44: which extends forwardly to the controllinglever as hereinafter described. An other three-armed lever is pivotallymounted upon the bracket 20 and has one of its arms 45 connected by' alink 16 with the shiftable member of the clutch 31. Another arm 47 ofsaid lever has a connection with a link 48 which also extends forwardlyto the controlling lever. The link 42 has mounted thereon a wedge-shapedlug 4:9

' form a rigid abutment for one end of the spring 36.

lVhen it is desired to apply the brake the operator will move the linkas in the direction of the arrow (by means of the controlling leverhereafter described) so as to close the clutch 31 and clutch the gear27, and therefore the right wheel 16 to the shaft 29. This will causerotation of the gear 3& in the direction of the arrow on the casing 32Fig. 1. Such rotation will cause the spring 36 to be wound up so thatenergy will be stored therein. The shaft 28 will at this time be free torevolve, since the clutch 30 is open. The pawl 39 will also ride freelyover the ratchet 38, but will lock the shaft 28 and therefore the spring36 against unwinding so that after the brake is thrown off by openingclutch 31, the sprin against unwinding. Energy will thus be stored inthe spring. In order to utilize the energy so stored, as when startingor going up'a grade, the driver will move the link 1 1 in the directionof the arrow (by means of the operating lever) so as to close the clutch30 and connect the left wheel 16 with the shaft 28 and with the spring36. The movement of the link 42 to clutching position will cause thewedge 19 to engage the tailpiece 50 and throw the pawl 39 out ofengagement with the ratchet. The mechanism is however so timed that theclutch 30 will be partially in engagement before the pawl 39 is thrownout so as to prevent sudden unwinding of the spring. The spring will benow connected to the left wheel 16, and since the shaft 28 is free torevolve the spring will drive the wheel and deliver the energy storedtherein for driving said wheel. It will be noted that the drivingconnection between the gear 3 1 and the pinion 33 is such as to rotatethe left wheel in a direction to drive the vehicle forwardly.

It is sometimes desirable to apply an ad ditional brake, as when anexceptionally steep grade is encountered. This may be accomplished asfollows: After the clutch 31 is thrown in to wind up the spring, theclutch 30 may also be thrown in gradually to apply an increasing brakingaction to the shaft 2S,since an ordinary friction clutch can be thrownin gradually to operate as a friction brake especially if it is of theexpandwill be locked ing type. By means of the controlling lever,hereafter to be described, the clutch 30 can be thrown in graduallyafter the clutch 31 has been closed, to gradually apply an additionalbrake, and this can be continued to suchan extent as to slip the wheels.

Vith the mechanism described as above the spring will be wound by onlyone of the wheels to store energy in the spring, and the energy sostored will be delivered to the other wheel. It is desirable howeverthat both wheels be working at the same time. The mechanism therefore ispreferably constructed so that both wheels will wind the spring, and sothat the energy is delivered and transmitted to both wheels. Such aconstruction will now be described. The gears 25 and 24 mesh withanother pair of gears 52 and 53 loosely mounted upon shafts 5 1 and 55which in turn are mounted to rotate in the brackets 19, 20, 21 and 22.Clutches 56 and 57 of the same construction as 30 and'3l are arranged toclutch the gears 52 and 53 to the shafts 54L and 55. A casing 58 similarto 32 is bolted to the reach as shown in Fig. 2 and is provided withbearings. The shafts 5a and 55 have mounted thereon and within thecasing a pair of bevel pinions 59 and 60 meshing with the bevel gear 61,which in this case is keyed to a shaft 62 extending through the casingand through the reach and having keyed thereto a gear 63. The pinion 59is keyed to the shaft 54, while the pinion 60 is loosely mounted uponthe shaft 55 and is arranged to be clutched thereto by means of a clutchhereinafter described. The casing 58 is closed'by a cover 5 similar inconstruction as the cover a. The bevel gear 63 has meshing therewith apinion 6 1 mounted on a horizontal shaft 65, which shaft extends acrossthe axle 15 to the casing 32 and is supported in hearings on the casings58 and 32 as shown in Fig. 1.. has keyed thereon a bevel gear 66 meshingwith a gear 67 on the shaft 35. By means of this construction the gear61 will be connected with the inside end of the'spring 36 so as to windthe same from the inside. The right-hand three-armed lever operated bythe link 1% has a third arm 68 connected by a link 69 with the shiftablemember of the clutch 56. Similarly the left-hand threearmed leverconnected'with the link 48 has a third arm 7 0 connected by a link 71with the shiftable member of the clutch 57.. The shaft 54: has rigidlysecured thereto a ratchet 7 2 engaged by a spring pressed pawl 7 3mounted 'upon the casing. The link 141 is provided with a downwardlyextending pin 7 1 adapted to engage a pin or lug 75 extend The other endof the shaft 65 ing laterally from the pawl 73 as shown in 7 (diameter.

nism will be similar to the first mechanism described heretofore. Inthis case however the clutch 57 will act as a driving winding clutch totransmit the power from the left wheel to the spring, while the clutch56 will be the driven clutch for transmitting the power from the springto the right wheel. The driving or winding clutch will be operated bymoving the link 48 in the direction of the arrow, while the driven orregenerating clutch 56 will be operated by moving the link 44 in thedirection of the arrow. While the link 44 is operated to throw in theclutch 56, the pawl 53 will be thrown out of engagement with itsratchet, and the timing in this case is also such that the pawl will bethrown out after the clutch 56 is partially engaged. Similarly theclutch 56 may also be thrown in as a friction brake as described above.

It will be noted that both driving or winding clutches 31 and 57 areconnected to be operated by the link 48, while both the driven orregenerating clutches 30 and 56 are connected to be thrown in by thelink 44. It will therefore be seen that if the link 48 is moved in thedirection of the arrow, both wheels will be thrown into drivingengagement with the bevel gears 34 and 61 so that both will wind thespring and store energy therein. When the link 44 is moved in thedirection of the arrow, the spring will be thrown into drivingconnection with both of the wheels 16 so that the energy stored in thespring will be transmitted to both wheels.

It is sometimes desirable to increase the rate winding of the spring,for instance where short steep places are encountered. IMeans aretherefore provided for varying the gear ratio between the wheel and thespring. Referring to'Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 8 the bevel gear 61 is shown asprovided with a gear face 7 6 of comparatively small pitch A pinion 77is splined on the shaft and is arranged to be thrown into and out ofmesh with 76. The hubs of pinions 77 and are provided with jaw clutches78 and 79 whereby the pinion 60 may be clutched and unclutched from theshaft 55 by sliding the pinion 77 on the shaft 55. A bifurcated lug 80is pivotally mounted on the end of the pinion 77, and a secondbifurcated lug 81 is pivotally mounted on the end of the shaft 54 asshown in Figs. 6 and 7. A toggle 82 has its shaft connected with a link83 which is bent lat erally so as to pass above the reach 17, theportion 84 extending forwardly to the controlling mechanism hereinafterto be described. The operation of this change speed gearing is asfollows: The toggle is normally maintained in straightened position sothat the clutch members 78 and 79 will be in engagement, whereby thepinion 77 will be thrown out of mesh 60 will be clutched to the shaft55. In this position the spring will be wound slowly. If the link 84 isnow moved in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1, the toggle 82 will bebroken as shown in Fig. 8 so as to throw the pinion 77 into mesh,leaving the pinion 60 free on the shaft 55. In this position of theparts the spring will be wound at a greater rate.

The controlling mechanism will now be described. Referring to Figs. 9,10 and 11, 85 and 86 designate a pair of brackets which are arranged tobe bolted to the bottom of the wagon box and in any adjusted positionthereon. Rotatively mounted in these bearings are three nested shafts87, 88 and 89 which have rigidly mounted thereon toothed segments 90, 91and 92. A hand lever 93 is loosely mounted upon the shafts 87 and 88 soas to embrace the segment 91. This lever has mounted thereon threeblocks 94, 95 and 96 toothed to engage the segments 90, 91 and 92respectively. The handle of the lever has pivotally mounted thereon apair of hand pieces 97 and 99 and a button 98. These hand pieces andbutton are connected with the blocks 94, 95 and 96 by means of rods 100,101 and 102. The blocks are normally maintained out of engagement withthe toothed segments by means of the springs as shown in Fig. 10, butthese blocks may be thrown into engagement with the segmentsindependently or together by operating the hand pieces or the button.The shafts 87, 88 and 89 have mounted thereon arms 103, 104 and 105which connect with the links 44, 84 and 48 respectively. Springs 106,107 and 108, connected at one of their ends of the wagon box, at theirother ends with the links 44, 84 and 48 respectively, normally move thelinks rearwardly, the rearward movements of these links being limited bystops on the brackets 20 and 21 and by a stop on the casing 58 (notshown).

By means of the above construction any while, the pinion one of theshafts may be operated independently of the others. Thus by operatingthe hand piece 97 the shaft 87 will be connected to the lever so thatthis shaft may be oscillated by moving the lever backward and for ward.Similarly the shafts 88 and 89 may be oscillated by operating the buttonand the hand piece 99 respectively. The hand pieces and the button arealso so positioned that any two or all of them may be operated togetherso that any two or all three shafts may be operated together. Furthersince the blocks may be thrown into engage ment with a segment at anyposition of the lever, any of the shafts may be operated after anothershaft has been operated through a part of its movement.

The application of the controlling mechanism to the controlled mechanismwill now ing clutches closed.

be described. If it is desired to brake the vehicle so as to storeenergy in the spring the hand piece 97 is operated so as to connectshaft 87 with the hand lever. By now moving the hand lever rearwardly ortoward the driver, the link 44 is moved so as to throw in the driving orwinding clutches 30 and 56 and store energy in the spring. If it isdesired to increase the rate of winding the button 98 is depressed. Thismay be done with the thumb while the handle and the hand pieces 97 aregrasped by the palm and fingers. By moving the lever backward with thebutton depressed and with the hand piece 97 pressed toward the handle,

the spring will be wound on high gear or at a high rate. The button maybe operated at any position of the handle to shift the gear 77 to highspeed position, since the play in the clutch will be sutlicient topermit such added movement of the hand lever. The winding mechanism mayalso be thrown on low gear at any position of the hand lever by merelyreleasing the butt-011, since the spring 107 will move the gear 77 tolow speed position and clutch gear 60 to shaft 55. The clutches may bethrown out at any time by merely releasing the hand piece 97. If duringthe operation of braking it is desired at any time to throw in theclutches 31 and 57 for the purpose of applying an additional frictionbrake, this can be done at any position of the hand lever by operatingthe hand piece 99 with the fingers of the hand and giving the hand leveran additional backward movement, the play in the friction clutches 31and 57 permitting such additional movement. This additional brake can beapplied gradually keeping the wind- The driven or regencrating clutches30 and 56 may be thrown in by operating the hand piece 99 and by thenmoving the hand lever backward as before.

It will thus be seen. that the invention accomplishes its objects. Amechanism is provided 'with which it is possible to brake a vehicle andstore energy for subsequent utilization in driving the vehicle. Themechanism is under "absolute control of the operator, and since a singlelever is used, the control will be simple and effective. The mechanismis also so constructed that it can be applied to any vehicle built orbeing built.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from this invention, and it is thereforeto be understood that this invention is not to be limited to thespecific construction shown and described.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with oppositeindependently rotatable vehicle wheels, of a single energy storingspring, and mechanism connecting saidspring with said wheels constructedto cause both wheels to slmultan'eously wind said spring to store energythereln.

2. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with oppositeindependently'rotatable vehicle wheels, of a single energy storingspring, and mechanism connecting one wheel with one end of saidspringand another wheel with the other endof said spring constructed tocause both wheels to simultaneously wind said spring to store energy,

therein.

3. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the opposite vehiclewheels, of a single energy storing spring, and mechanism connecting saidwheels with the ends of said spring constructed to cause both saidwheels to wind said spring to store energy therein, and means forapplying the stored energy to both wheels.

4:. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism connecting said spring with apair of said wheels constructed to cause both wheels to wind up saidspring to store energy therein, and means for applying the stored energyto a pair of said wheels.

5. In a vehicle brake system, the combination withthe vehicle wheels, ofan energy storing spring, mechanism connecting said spring with oppositewheels constructed to cause both wheels to wind up said spring and storeenergy therein, and means for connecting the spring to said. wheelsconstructed to apply the energy stored in said spring for driving saidwheels.

6. In a vehicle brake system, the combination'with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism including a friction clutch forconnecting a wheel with said spring to wind the same and store energytherein, mechanism including a second clutch for connecting said springto another wheel to apply the stored energy for driving said wheel, saidsecond clutch being operable as a friction brake and means for operatingsaid clutches independently or together.

7. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism including a friction clutch forconnecting a wheel with said spring to wind the same and store energytherein, mechanism including a second clutch for connecting said springto another wheel to apply the stored energy for driving said wheel, andmeans for operating said second clutch as a friction brake.

S. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an' energy storing spring, mechanism including a friction clutch forconnecting a wheel with said spring to'wind the same and store energytherein, mechanism including a second clutch for connecting said springto another wheel to apply the stored energy for driving said wheel, anda single lever constructed and connected to said clutches to operatethem independently or together.

9. In a vehicle brake system, the com-. bination with the vehiclewheels, of an energy storing spring, mechanism includ ing a pair offriction clutches for connecting opposite wheels to said spring to windthe same and store energy therein, mechanism including a second pair ofclutches for connecting said spring to opposite wheels to apply thestored energy to said wheels, and means for operating said clutches.

10. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an en ergy storing spring, mechanism including a pair of frictionclutches for connecting opposite wheels to said spring to wind the sameand store energy therein, mechanism including a second pair ofc'lutchesfor connecting said spring to opposite wheels to apply thestored energy to said wheels, and means for operating said pairs ofclutches independently or together.

11. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism including a pair of frictionclutches for connecting opposite wheels to said spring to wind the sameand store energy therein, mechanism including a second pair of clutchesfor connecting said spring to opposite wheels to apply the stored energyto said wheels, and means for operating said second pair of clutches asfriction brakes.

12. In a vehicle brake system, the C0111- bination with the vehiclewheels, of an energy storing spring, and mechanism for connecting saidwheels with said spring including change speed gearing.

13. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, and means for varying the rate of winding of said spring.

14. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, and mechanism for connecting said wheelswith said spring including a shiftable gear, and means under the controlof the operator for shifting said gear to a plurality of positions.

15. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, a driving connection be tween said springand a wheel, a clutch in said connection, means for operating saidclutch, and means for varying the speed ratio between said spring andsaid wheel.

16. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, said mechanism including a clutch and change speed gearing, andmeans for operating said clutch and said change speed gearing.

17. In a vehicle brake system, the com bination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, said mechanism including a clutch and change speed gearing, andmeans for operating said clutch. and said change speed gearingindependently and together.

18. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, said mechanism including a clutch and change speed gearing,mechanism including a clutch for connecting said spring with one of saidwheels to drive the same, and means for operating said clutches and saidchange speed gearing.

19. In avehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, said mechanism including a clutch and change speed gearing,mecha nism including a clutch for connecting said spring with one ofsaid wheels to drive the same, and means for operating said clutches andsaid change speed gearing independently and together.

20. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, mechanism for connecting one of said wheelswith said spring constructed to wind said spring and store energytherein, said mechanism including a clutch and change speed gearing,mechanism including a clutch for connecting said spring with one of saidwheels to drive the same, and a single lever for operating said clutchesand said change speed gearing.

21. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, a rotatable gear connected with said springand having a plurality of gear faces, pinions meshing with said gear andconstructed to beconnected with said wheels to store and deliver energyfrom said spring, and means for controlling one of said pinions to varythe gear ratio between said gear and one of said wheels.

22. In a vehicle brake system, the combination with the vehicle wheels,of an energy storing spring, a rotatable bevel gear connected With saidspring and having a plurality of gear faces of difl'erent radii, pinionsconnected with said gear and having driving connections With saidWheels, and means for rendering said driving connections operative andinoperative.

in presence of two Witnesses.

ROZIER E. BRUNDEGE.

Witnesses:

J. H. BRUNINGA, J. O. STERLING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gcm nissioner of Patents,

, Washington, D. 0.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature

